San Diego County DA: Proposition 36 implementation has driven treatment uptake and new arrests; counties warn funding shortfall

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan told the Carlsbad City Council legislative subcommittee that countywide implementation of Proposition 36 has produced high rates of treatment acceptance and has changed how officers and prosecutors handle repeat drug and theft offenders.

Stephan spoke at length about components of Proposition 36, formally referred to in the meeting as the Homelessness, Drug Addiction and Theft Reduction Act, describing new prosecutorial enhancements for dealers of fentanyl and methamphetamine, a countywide behavioral health assessment process implemented April 7, and a treatment‑mandated felony pathway for qualifying habitual drug users.

The measure, approved by voters in November and effective December, includes changes that allow prosecutors to seek heavier penalties when drug sales result in severe injury or death, and it brings fentanyl within weight‑enhancement frameworks previously applied to other drugs. "This section also brought my state prosecutors in line with federal prosecutors," Stephan said. She added that many of the new provisions were written by county prosecutors and went into effect immediately.

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